The onyx hedgehog leapt out of bed with a start, spluttering as he coughed up blood. Shadow growled as he nonchalantly wiped the fluid from his mouth with the back of his hand.
"Rough night, huh?"
Shadow bolted at the sudden voice, grabbing a pistol from the side of his bed, cocking the safety and pointing it in the direction of the noise.
Rouge the Bat sat in a chair on the other side of the room.
"Hmph. It's only you…" The black experiment sneered, throwing the weapon messily back onto the chest-of-drawers.
Rouge smirked and stylishly walked over to her colleague, holding out a white folded sheet of paper.
Shadow snatched the note and read over it dryly. The page was stamped with a strange symbol, like a sun with crooked rays. It was headed:
PROJECT BLACK SUN
"We found it in old files archived from the AR-"
Shadow tossed the sheet back at the bat before she could finish.
"Fuck. I'm not getting involved with that shit again. It's always 'ARK this' or 'ARK that'. I don't care anymore. I don't want to know. So why don't you and your GUN buddies piss off. I already told you, I quit."
He sat back down on the bed and pulled a packet of cigarettes from somewhere under the pillow. He lit one and took a dry glance back at Rouge.
She was still there.
"Fuck off."
"You could at least let me talk…no?" Rouge fluttered her eyes, still holding the note.
Shadow continued to stare, narrowing his eyes.
"Get the fuck out of my apartment."
"Hmph. Men…" Rouge trailed off and held up her hands in an 'oh-well' gesture, sauntering towards the door. She took a final look back at Shadow.
"I'm gonna miss you, you know. You were a good colleague, if not a friend…" She smiled.
"Go fuck your echidna or something. Just stay away from me." Shadow snorted as he exhaled the smoke, waving his cigarette-holding hand as if shooing off a fly.
Rouge sighed and walked out of the room, politely shutting the door behind her.